


Sugden Hall

by Remember_THAT_T1m3



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: AU, Business, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-06 03:00:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11027211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Remember_THAT_T1m3/pseuds/Remember_THAT_T1m3
Summary: AU of how Aaron and Robert meet.Aaron and Adam's business idea of 'Holy Scrap' is under way, the only thing left to do is find an investor. Enter a promotional event at Sugden Hall where none other than Robert Sugden is more than happy to help.





	1. Chapter 1

Aaron wasn’t one for wearing a suit, overalls maybe, but a suit! No thanks. They are far too restricting for someone who loves a good hoodie and overall movement of his limbs. How people wear them everyday he’d never know. It all just screams awkward, and to top it off, he has to schmooze his way into the wallets of rich, snotty old men who have nothing better to do than drink champagne and judge those beneath them. Great! But hey, that’s life, Aaron knew that when he came up with this business plan he’d need money for it to take off and the only way to do that is to win the hearts of these rich, snotty old men and forever laugh at their unfunny jokes. True, he did think that Adam, his best mate/ business partner, would be handling the social side of the business but, when family calls, family calls. So this is why Aaron is currently hiding in the bathroom of Sugden Hall seriously debating with himself whether he can climb out the small window in the corner. 

“I could totally fit” Aaron thought before shaking his head. “No Aaron! You’ve got this, just be calm” 

He moved towards the sink and looked at his reflection in the mirror.

“Hi, I’m Aaron Dingle, co-owner of ‘Holy Scrap’, spiffing to meet you- NO! You sound like a twat. Right again: Hi, I’m Aaron Dingle, pleasure to meet you!” Aaron nods to himself in the mirror, that’ll do, he thinks. He brushes down his suit and heads out of the bathroom into the main hall.

***  
ROBERT’S POV

They all laugh in unison. 

“Hah! Good one Lawrence” Robert raises his glass towards the older man before taking a sip of the champagne in order to hide his eye roll. Seriously, if he has to fake laugh at any more “jokes”, he will not be held responsible for his actions. 

He quickly scans the room looking for a way out before noticing his younger sister heading towards the buffet. 

“Well gentlemen, do excuse me” He nods before striding towards Victoria before anyone else can grab his attention.

“Save me, Vic” he sighs as he picks up a mini sausage role.

“Me first” she scoffs. “I’ve only just escaped Chrissie complaining that her nails were not the right shade of pink. It wasn’t even her finger nails, Robert, it was her toe nails, YOU CAN’T EVEN BLOODY SEE THEM!”

Robert laughs at his sisters’ rant, offering her a mini sausage role to ease the pain. They both eat in silence and look around at all the guests in the hall.

“Why do we keep doing these events, sis?”  
“Don’t ask. It’s meant to be a chance to meet new clients but it’s just the same old people every time. Half of whom you’ve slept with” She shrugs.

“Don’t beat around the bush, do ya” He laughs, gently nudging her on the shoulder.

“It’s true” Victoria squeaks. “I can’t even chat to a bloke without thinking ‘has Rob slept with this one?’ or ‘Is he only talking to me to get to my brother?’ You, my friend, are really ruining my game!”

Robert lets out a small chuckle. “Sorry, but you should thank me I’m actually doing you a favour. All the blokes here are dull, so me sleeping with them is saving you loads of time.”

“Oh thanks Robert, I really appreciate it.” She says sarcastically.

“You’re welcome” he nods

“Well god forbid you ever settle down! Man or woman, they’ve got a lot to deal with. Your ego for one” She pats him on the back before heading back into the crowd leaving Robert to ponder her final words.

“Settle down?” he thought “no can’t see that happening.”

Robert pops another mini sausage roll in his mouth and looks back into the sea of people. Suddenly he spots someone new, a young man with brown fluffy hair and an arse to die for. This must be the first time he has come to one of these events because Robert would have remembered someone as good looking as him. Robert quickly realises how long he has been staring when the young man catches his eye and gives him a quizzical look.

Almost instantly, Robert downs the rest f his champagne and heads towards the young man, picking up another two glasses on his way.

***  
AARON’S POV

He’s coming over, okay first interaction of the evening you can do this just as you practised.

“Hi, my names –“  
“Champagne-“

“Oh sorry-“  
“Sorry, my bad-“

What is wrong with both of them? 

Aaron clears his throat and nods his head towards the blonde man gesturing for him to speak first.

“Sorry… um, champagne?” Aaron takes the glass offered to him.

“Thanks. I’m Aaron by the way.”

“Robert Sugden, pleasure to meet you.” Both men clink their glasses together and take a sip, with Robert keeping his eyes fixed on Aaron.

“Wait, Robert Sugden?” Aaron questions.

“Yep”

“Sugden as in Sugden Enterprise? As in Sugden Hall? As in the hosts of tonight’s event?”

“Yep”

“Shit” Aaron panics at his choice of language. “Oh Shit” He covers his mouth, eyes widening. What is wrong with him? “Sorry, excuse my language, I just didn’t expect to actually meet you” Or for you to be so … fit! Aaron thought.

“Oh thanks, you’re not too bad yourself” Robert winks

Crap, did Aaron say that out loud?

“Excuse me” Aaron smiles awkwardly before quickly turning around and walking off.

“Aaron wait!” 

He hears his name being called but just keeps walking until Robert appears in front of him, holding his shoulders steady.

“Oh sorry I was just going to the toilet, I think I saw a sizeable window in there” he nods and turns back the way he came towards the bathrooms.

“What” Robert questions. “No, wait!” Robert pulls Aaron back a little to hard this time as Aaron finds himself centimetres away from Roberts face. His eyes flick down towards Roberts lips and back up to his eyes to find him staring right back. If either of them lean in their lips would be touching, and Aaron doesn’t know how his body would respond if they did but a part of him wants to find out. 

Suddenly Aaron realises what’s happening and pulls away before taking a business card from his pocket and handing it to Robert.

“I’m Aaron Dingle, co-owner of ‘Holy Scrap’, if you’re interested in investing in our small business then please let me know.” He smiles. “Umm, it was nice to meet you Sir, I must go and hand more of these out” Aaron quickly moves past Robert who just stands there with a blank face as if totally unfazed by what just happened. 

As he gets closer to the crowd Aaron raises his head and puts on his best fake smile, pretending that what just happened, or almost happened, didn’t happen at all, focussing only on promoting his business.

***  
The rest of the evening proves rather successful for Aaron who managed to get the name ‘Holy Scrap’ out to as many people as possible with many seeming interested in investing. Adam would be proud. But wherever he went, whether to the buffet or to other individuals, Aaron always felt someone watching him and every time he turned to spot them he would just see Robert Sugden smirking back at him. Part of Aaron thought he was just a smug git but the other part was excited by the attention and even played along at one point by winking at Robert who simply laughed in response. 

Aaron knew nothing would come of it but that didn’t stop him from being a little bit upset when the evening came to a close and Robert was nowhere in sight. 

“Oh well” Aaron thought as he headed to the exit, until someone pulled him into a side room and pushed him up against the wall.

“Thought you could get away that easily, did ya?” Robert whispered into his ear.

Aaron smirked before Robert crashed their lips together. It was messy and hungry as both men fought for dominance, pulling each other closer and closer. Aaron could feel Robert’s stiffness as he pushed his own pelvis into him, causing Robert to release a hard moan from his lips. Aaron wasted no time as he slipped his tongue into Robert’s mouth desperate to feel more of him, to have his taste on his tongue. 

Just as Robert began unbuttoning Aaron’s shirt, someone knocked on the door.

“Robert, Lawrence wants a word.” A females’ voice calls.

Robert lets out a breath as he pulls away from Aaron keeping their foreheads touching while he raises his hands to cup the other mans face. They kiss again but this time it was softer than before, with both men lingering for as long as possible before reality pulls them apart. 

Sooner than later, it does. Robert is the first to speak.

“Until next time Aaron Dingle.” And with that, Robert walks away, leaving a very confused and a very horny Aaron behind. 

Aaron had no idea what just happened but he did know that that wasn’t going to be the last time he’d see Robert Sugden. Or at least he hoped it wasn’t.


	2. CHapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert centric chapter !!

Saturday Evenig

“Lawrence, you wanted to see me?”

“I did, I did indeed.” Lawrence responds beckoning Robert into his office.

It wasn’t odd for Lawrence to call Robert in for a meeting, their families had been working together for well over 40 years now when Jack Sugden and Lawrence White joined forces to become the biggest fish in the corporate sea, dominating markets and developing businesses that secured both families with an obscene amount of wealth. So the ‘meeting’ aspect of the meeting was perfectly fine, the only thing that made Robert a tad nervous was the fact that Lawrence had called him in at 12:30am after an event when he would much rather be tearing the rest of Aaron Dingle’s clothes off and showing him a good time if you know what I mean. Let’s just say that Lawrence does not have hill full attention.

“So Robert, as you know we’ve known each other for many years now on both a professional and personal level”

As Lawrence speaks Robert’s mind starts to wander back to the thought of Aaron. The shape of his lips that fit so perfectly against his. The taste of him still fresh on his lips. 

“And I don't doubt that these ties will remain strong, but as I am sure you are aware, the business world is changing and nothing can be made certain…” Lawrence continues but Roberts focus is somewhere else, or on someone else. 

“Robert, before your father passed away we discussed a solution to secure a stronger union between our two families, one that will ensure the future of our businesses and our position in the greater market”

“Yes glad to hear it” Robert replies as his fingers tingle at the memory or unbuttoning Aaron’s shirt with the anticipation of getting to what's underneath. 

“Robert, you are to marry Chrissie”

Robert snapped out of his haze and looked up at Lawrence.

“What?” He smirked.

“You and Chrissie will get married to secure the future of this business”

Robert started to lean forward in his chair. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, this is the only solution we have and it’s what your father and I agreed” Lawrence shrugs as if it's the most simple thing in the world.

“I’m sorry, what? I’m not getting married, this is ridiculous.”

“Well fortunately for me, you have no choice, If you don’t agree to marry, then both family businesses will collapse in the face of new competition and we’ll all be left with nothing, all because you can’t see the big picture”

Robert jumps to his feet.

“You can’t pin this all on me, there has to be another way to secure our union. Where the hell has this come from?” Robert starts to raise his voice

“Your father and I discussed the best possible solution if a situation like this ever arose, Jack would have never made you do this if it wasn’t the completely necessary.”

“What a load of bollocks!!! No, I know my father and he loved to keep me on the straight and narrow, couldn’t handle the possibility of me being with a man and this, this is just his way of making sure that never happens.” Robert runs his hands though his hair “Christ, he’s not even here and still has control, I bet he’s gutted that he couldn’t be here to tell me”

“How dare you speak of your father that way” Lawrence shouts

“It’s true! And have you even told Chrissie or has she been called into a meeting as well, eh? Quite surprised you didn’t tell us together, bring in a priest, let's get it over and done with now shall we?” Robert begins pacing up and down the office.

“She already knows”

“ahh brilliant” Robert mutters

“And she understands how important it is”

“Well that makes one of us”

“Look, Robert, you will marry her, it's already been decided” Lawrence walks back to his chair and sits down.

“No, no, no, Lawrence you’re wrong, I will not marry her, that is my decision!” And with that, Robert storms out of the office, slamming the door behind. 

“Man I need a drink” Robert takes a deep breath and makes his way out onto the streets with only alcohol on his mind.

***

Monday

“Well, I think we can all agree that Saturday’s event went swimmingly” Lawrence smiles at the room full of executives who all nod their heads in agreement.

Robert couldn't help but laugh. ‘Swimmingly?’ He thought. The evening was just a typical booze-up of schmoozing business men that, surprise surprise, Robert already works with. There was no ‘fresh meat’, there was no potential business deals, and, frankly, there was no point in doing it. In Robert’s eyes it was just a waste of money. Well… That was until a certain Dingle walked in and spiced up his evening. If he closes his eyes, even just for a moment, Robert can still see Aaron pushed up against the wall with the look of desperation in his eyes. 

Robert’s not one to dwell on his past escapades, but there was something about Aaron that stayed with him. He thought he was just being horny after their evening was cut short by Lawrence. He even took someone home on Saturday evening to try and shake the feeling off, but come Monday morning Robert couldn’t stop thinking about Aaron and the electric feeling that pulsed through his body when their lips moved together. At this thought, Robert couldn’t help but move his fingertips across his lips as the feeling still lingered. 

“Yes that chap from Holy Scrap was very interesting”

At the mention of ‘Holy Scrap’, Robert snapped out of his haze, almost jumping out of his seat.

“Are you alright Robert?” Lawrence asked

“Yes fine, sorry did someone say ‘Holy Scrap’?” He replied, his attention very much back towards the meeting.

“Yes, Ronnie was suggesting that we invest in them, that young man seemed to have made a good impression on quite a few of us”

‘Yeh, you’re telling me’ Robert thought. “Yes excellent idea, I couldn’t agree more” Robert replied, his enthusiasm startling those in the room.

“Good, glad you agree. I'll get my assistant to send them an email right away. Now onto the next-“

“Umm Lawrence, how about we speak to them in person” Robert interjected.

Lawrence gave him a quizzical look as members of the meeting turned that attention back to Robert.

“Well, seeing as this is the first investment we’ve made in a while we want them to know that we are actually interested. You know, make a good impression rather than sending them the same copied and pasted email that we send to any old business.” Robert became more excited the longer he spoke, moving right to the edge of his seat.

“He makes a good point” one of the gentleman replies

“Thank you” Robert nods towards the gentleman before turning back to Lawrence. “And we could even invite them round for a formal meeting to smooth out any problems and make it official. Show them that they are our priority. If we do that, we can guarantee their support and ensure a strong bond for the future” The rest of the individuals in the room starting nodding their heads in agreement. 

“We do need this investment” Lawrence acknowledges. “Right” he smacks his hand on the table as he stands up “Excellent Robert, we’ll send someone over tomorrow and plan the meeting for Friday.” The meeting members begin packing up their things to leave by Robert keeps his eyes on Lawrence.

“Nice one Rob”  
“Yeh, great idea”  
“That's why you’re the face of this company, eh”

Members praise Robert as they leave, patting him on the back and giving him a quick nod, and while Robert enjoys the attention he can’t hide his ulterior motives to see Aaron again. For all he knows, Aaron could be a complete waste of his time but a part of him knows that that's not true and that whatever happens, it will be worth it.

Roberts makes his way to Lawrence. 

“Lawrence –“

“Ahh Robert, excellent work there” Lawrence smiles.

“Thanks, I just wanted to offer up my services to go to ‘Holy Scrap’ myself” Robert smiles.

“Oh, well, sure. I mean it was your idea so it does make sense”

“Mmmhmm” Robert nods in agreement

“Yep that's fine by me, I’ll get my assistant to send you the details today!”

“Thank you” Robert smiles and turns to leave but Lawrence calls him back

“Robert, have you had a chance to think about our meeting on Saturday?” Lawrence asks

“Oh” Roberts face falls as he remembers their ‘meeting’, a ‘meeting’ he has been trying to forget ever since it happened. “Well… Actually Lawrence I did want to ask you something about that.”

“Go on” Lawrence starts to look concerned

“I understand that you think this is the only option left but I can’t belief that to be true”

“Robert please-“  
“No just hear me out.” Robert pleads

Lawrence nods for him to carry on.

“All I ask is for time.” Lawrence looks up at him confused. “Time to think of another solution, a better solution. Please Lawrence, you can’t really want me to marry your daughter” 

“Well no you wouldn't have been my first choice”

“Exactly”

“Fine! You can have 6 weeks, but if you can’t think of another way then you have no choice but to marry my daughter, the company depends on it”

“Thank you Lawrence” Robert nods before heading out of the office. Now, he wasn’t completely in the clear but at least he had time to think of a way out of it. There was no way he was going to marry, no way in hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will definitely finish this story but I have been a tad busy so I apologise if updates are slow.

**Author's Note:**

> Initially only a one shot but could be extended if people like!!!


End file.
